Sunday, September 29, 2013

Fall has started to settle into itself and everyone is taking full advantage. Yet as fashion month nears its end, I've started to yearn for things that are typically spring and summer. For clothes that are fun and light and pretty. It's something that's been missing for most of the season, but some of it could be found in the clothing at Cacharel.

Friday, September 27, 2013

There was a softer story being told at the Gareth Pugh show on September 25th. The stark blacks and crisps whites that have featured heavily in his collections over the years were joined by colors that seemed to spring from the bleeding together of the two. The silhouettes, usually so strong and, at times, oppressive, had a touch of the languid to them.

They were markers of a slow evolution and a reluctance to stand still.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

If I had to I could pinpoint when the shift started at Dolce & Gabbana. When the clothes deviated from the sexiness for sexiness' sake mantra that has become less and less important in Milan. When the inspiration began to sprout from the long, storied, tortuous, and bloody history of Italy. But the exact moment is unimportant. It's this Dolce & Gabbana, the one that has entered a second act of sorts, that continues to captivate me.

This season the focus was on the ruins of the once great Roman empire, both architectural and monetary. Oversized sequins called to mind a melting pot filled with emperor-faced coins. Vines of flowers mimicked those that one might find littering long broken columns.

And sometimes the silhouettes called to mind a more recent Italian image, that seen in mid-20th century cinema.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Milan, much like New York, has felt decidedly unlike spring or summer. At least not in any of the obvious ways. Few pastels. No nautical references. A floral pattern here or there. Fur and leather cropping up everywhere.

It was in this vein that the Gabriele Colangelo collection shown on September 21st flowed. Prints that mimicked paint artfully dashed on drop cloths. Black belts that brought to mind an East Asian influence.

Some of the prints that played such a large role in the London collections made their way over to Milan. At Antonio Marras, the shapes were simple and ladylike, but the prints were of two minds. There were the classic floral and fauna prints in aged colors that featured the occasional butterfly fluttering through the frame. And then there were the others.

At first they seem to be of the same variety, only differing in their reliance on the black and white motif that has been dominating the runways, but as you move on something else catches your eye.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

On September 15th, the shows in London continued to deal only lightly in the trends that informed so much of what was seen on the runways of New York. It's a shift that happens nearly every season, but the near 180 degree turn still comes as a bit of a shock to me.

At Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, floral prints and blocks of color were woven into geometric patchworks against backdrops that ranged from the starkest of whites to the murkiest of grays.

The trends of New York could be seen here and there, but this was the real story.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

The best in prints and patterns is what many expect to see whenever the focus shifts from New York to London. And after a New York season full of stripped down "modernity", the lovingly creative jumble of London elicits a sigh of relief.

At Holly Fulton, the prints were front and center as they are every season. The colors were somewhat muted and the shapes more ladylike.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Searching for through lines in the world of fashion can be difficult. Designers often jump from inspiration to inspiration, sometimes in the same season. There are those who do so expertly, Prabal Gurung comes to mind, but many start to lose themselves in the process. Everything becomes a jumble of that painting they saw at the MoMA and that beach that they visited on the Mediterranean.

Reed Krakoff is the second of my Resort 2014 favorites to make an appearance here and for good reason. There is a clear thread that connects that collection to this one, yet the clothes are not weighed down by sameness. There was a progression forward, but that movement occurred while still keeping in mind what came before.